With a strong performance from Duncan Hodgkinson, this show offers a bleak view of life in a not-so-remote future when robots and AI have advanced as they might. Dante’s girlfriend has left, rejecting a society in which human frailty is gradually being lost as robotics increasingly become part of life itself. Dante is initially less concerned despite a soul-destroying job and anxieties about his upcoming ‘re-boot’. He’s a physicalist who nevertheless takes refuge in the romantic escapism of Don Quixote-like adventures. Though there’s none of the original’s satire, these give full rein to Hodgkinson’s physical theatre skills. As the threads of the story merge, the narrative, for me, became rather confusing and consequently the ending less powerful than intended.

Zoo Playground, run ended
tw rating 3/5 | [Alan Cranston]